FEEDBACK COLUMN: Rutgers video shows times have changed, but not enough

By JEFF KUEHN

Saturday, April 6, 2013

In the state of Mississippi, few men wield more power in any given town than the high school football coach.

It was a fact I learned as a cub reporter in the first two weeks on the job, fresh out of college.

Of the four high schools in the spacious territory covered by The Picayune Item (about an hour north of New Orleans), the football coaches at two of the schools were legends in the state. At Hancock North Central there was Irvin Favre, the father of Brett Favre. At nearby Picayune High School was Calvin Triplett, who won well over 300 games in a career spanning four decades.

Not a bad duo to work with in a community starving for high school football news like a kid craves candy. Favre and Triplett both knew a lot about football and life.

Both coaches fielded teams that were tough and hard-nosed year after year.

One day, while shooting the breeze and passing the time in Coach Triplett's office, the conversation turned from football and what prospects were showing promise, to practice, the dog-days of August heat and discipline.

The year was 1981. Times have changed a great deal since then.

I remember the conversation as if it happened yesterday instead of 33 years ago.

"Coach Triplett, I've watched your team practice," I said. "There is a precision to your team I don't see at other places. Your players don't walk to the next station, they run. Your players don't complain or talk back during drills. What's your secret? How do you do it?"

Triplett leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, rolled forward in a smooth motion and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk.

Anticipation mounted. What was he reaching for?

Triplett, one of the most respected coaches in Mississippi football, a man loved by the administration and community alike, a man I considered a friend and reliable source, pulled a paddle out of his drawer that would put a frying pan to shame. He then held the paddle at shoulder length and smacked it across his hand three or four times. The sound alone left a mark on my backside.

"Coach, are you kidding?" I said. "Where I come from, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen."

"Not here, son," Triplett said. "Here, the parents presented it as a gift."

Triplett went on to say an athlete who showed up late for practice (whack), disrespected a coach or another player (whack), failed to put forth anything but his best effort (whack) ... had a choice. "Run the stairs or bend over in front of the team and receive 10 of these (whack)."

If you ever saw the stands at a stadium of one of the bigger schools in Mississippi, you could see why Triplett laughed and said, "9 out of 10 choose this (whack)."

Were these love taps on the hind side, or are we talking about Miguel Cabrera swinging-for-the-fences hits? Was Triplett serious or was he just playing with the cub reporter with the northern accent?

I didn't ask. I didn't want to know.

Coach Triplett never had athletes who were in trouble with the law. All of his players answered questions with, "yes, sir" and "no, sir" attached. His teams played hard, played to win and shook hands at the end.

In light of the video of former Rutgers University men's basketball coach Mike Rice rifling balls and shouting slurs at players during practice, I can't help but think back to the conversation with Coach Triplett.

What if video cameras were rolling then?

The only reason Rice was fired at Rutgers was because his actions were there for all to see in living color. As Rasheed Wallace likes to shout, "the ball don't lie."

Times have changed.

Back in my day, coaches disciplined us at practice by refusing to allow water breaks. "Water is for sissies. Water is for people who are weak. Water is for quitters."

What if the video camera was rolling then?

What if the camera was rolling in Bob Knight's heyday at Indiana the day after the Hooisers lost again to Purdue, or at Ohio State after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan under Woody Hayes?

Mike Rice was wrong. There is no excuse for throwing the ball at a player's head or using homophobic slurs to berate a player. It's disturbing to think Rice would still be coaching today without the evidence produced by the video.

Rutgers University officials saw the series of attacks three months ago and tried to sweep the matter under the rug with a three-game suspension, a fine and some anger management classes.

One can't help but imagine what the conversion among school officials was like when the video surfaced. How could anyone with authority look at the tapes and not come to the conclusion that the university's reputation was at stake? How could the athletic director, the university president and the team of lawyers you know were called to view the video come to any conclusion other than cutting ties with the basketball coach?

As much as I like to think times have changed, yes, there's still a long road ahead.

Each week, The Oakland Press encourages readers to sound off about topics in the sports section. Send your thoughts and opinions to sports editor Jeff Kuehn at jeff.kuehn@oakpress.com. Be sure to include your name, hometown and phone number for verification purposes.

Fodder to consider this week includes:

-- Should the Lions retire the No. 4 in honor of Jason Hanson?

-- Would you be comfortable watching Jose Valverde come out of the bullpen to close games in a Tiger uniform?

-- Has Michigan's run to the Final Four closed the gap on the basketball map between Ann Arbor and East Lansing?

Feedback received recently follows:

Michigan is no surprise

At the beginning of this basketball season, I watched several Michigan games, mainly out of curiosity because of the heavy publicity regarding Michigan's incoming class of freshmen. Even at the age of 66, I'm still a football/basketball junkie -- though primarily high school and college.

What I saw impressed me very much as this team not only had a lot of talent with Trey Burke and Tim Hardiway Jr., but the freshmen players seemed to really mesh well with the returning stars. What was obvious from the start was that they played team basketball. In other words, whoever was open got the shot. No superstar egoes were apparent. I made the comment early on that I felt they could go deep in the NCAA tournament if they continued to play well.

After a not-too-difficult pre-Big 10 schedule, the Wolverines struggled at times in conference play, but still missed the championship by about one inch in a great game against Indiana.

So now, after seeing them obliterate their last four opponents (Kansas aside), they have come full circle as a team. Their effort against Florida was, to say the least, outstanding after a comeback for the ages against Kansas.

So here we have a team with three teriffic freshmen. One of them, Mitch McGary, is quickly becoming a superstar. There's also a future pro in Tim Hardiway. Actually, I see 4-5 future pros on this team and the best point guard I've seen since Isiah Thomas. And I haven't even mentioned probably the most gifted athlete on the team, Glenn Robinson lll.

Richard LaGrow

Lake Orion

Time to clean house in Allen Park

I agree with Bob Frick's comments in last Sunday's column about getting rid of the problem children with the Detroit Lions. While you are cleaning house, broom the coach and GM.

How can you expect the players to behave when the GM, Martin Mayhew, drafts without a clue of what a background check is or what medical history means. Meanwhile, the team's head coach, Jim Schwartz, wants to fight other coaches at midfield.

You have to run a clean organization and garner quality personnel to be used as an example of class with your organization.

As for the Tigers, how do you know management is lying? When their lips are moving. I am referring to the Tiger' brain trust. Jim Leyland swore up and down that the Tigers would never consider bringing last season's closer, Jose Valverde, back this year. Never happen. No, no, no. Then last Thursday, team president and GM Dave Dombrowski reports they just inked Valverde to a minor league contract to see if he can pitch in the bigs again. He goes on to say this minor league contract had been in the works for some time.

So, who is less than truthful, Leyland or Dombrowski? Dombrowski says this move has nothing to do with designated hopeful closer Bruce Rondon flaming out and Leyland's closer by committee in games two and three turning into a disaster. Again, what is the truth?

Richard L. Brower

West Bloomfield

Salaries on steroids

I found the Good Friday Tigers' announcement of the signing of Justin Verlander for a seven year, $180 million contract and Monday's comprehensive listing of 134 free agent signings for untold millions to be absolutely sickening.

I refuse to contribute to such exorbitant contracts by spending a bundle on tickets, parking and high concession prices.

Here is my fantasy. Given the power, I would release every player on the rosters of the 30 Major League teams, then replace them with the AAA minor league teams in each Major League farm system. Their salaries would provide a comfortable lifestyle for their families, but not multi-million dollar contracts that enable them to retire when their playing days end. The teams would go bankrupt as the fans' interest would be close to zero, you might say, without superstars like Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander. Not so!

I was 16 when World War II ended, at my peak as a fan. Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and most of their teammates had gone off to war. Their replacements, most of whom would be in the minor leagues if not for the war, provided competitive games. There were still .300 hitters, 20-game winners and pennant races. We went to the games and paid attendance figures remained at pre-war level. In fact, the average per game attendance in the 1930s was 6,574 and in the 1940s that included four war years, it was 10,958. In my scenario, prices could be lowered and we fans could shout, "Hooray."

Without the need to pay enormous salaries the billionaire owners could realize a tidy profit on their investments. And billionaire owners, not easily replaced, deserve this profit, even though they cannot throw a ball 95-100 mph or hit a ball over 400 feet.

Unfortunately, we are stuck with the current complicated set of rules after a series of negotiations before arbitrators over many years. The players united and formed a union, but when the owners united our legal system called it collusion -- illegal. This ruling gave the players a huge edge. The owners do not pay these egregious salaries. The fans do. Not me!